Members of Tamanawis Secondary’s school band program will get to toot their horns – among other instruments – during a couple of JUNO Awards-related events in Vancouver this weekend.
The Newton-area students are part of the MusiCounts StarBand, a multi-school wind orchestra featuring 65-plus students from Vancouver-area schools, in celebration of the MusiCounts Band Aid Program.
“We are the only school from Surrey to be selected!” noted a Twitter post from the school’s account on March 8.
The Mark Reid-conducted StarBand will perform at the JUNO Cup hockey game in Burnaby on Friday evening (March 23), and again at the Let’s Hear It! LIVE outdoor music festival, with pop-rock band Dear Rouge, on Saturday afternoon (March 24, 3 p.m. start) on the north plaza at Vancouver Art Gallery.
“For the last month, they’ve been working super hard to rehearse (at Vancouver Technical Secondary, or VanTech),” said Patsy Goto, who teaches music at Tamanawis.
“The opportunity to get to play with students from other schools, it’s great,” she added.
The students are excited about being part of the StarBand, but maybe also a little nervous.
Arry Pandher, a Grade 11 student, has been playing trombone since Grade 7.
“I think, first of all, it’s an amazing opportunity to get a chance to do this, and it’s really exciting,” he said. “The nerves, it’s a little bit nerve-wracking, but it’s to the point where we’re working really hard to put on a great show, so that (nerves) shouldn’t matter.”
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The StarBand will have 45 minutes of stage time at the outdoor music festival on Saturday afternoon. Admission is free.
Clarinet player Nishant Amatya, another Grade 11 student, said many of the band members have been playing in the high school band for several years, “so having been involved (in music) together definitely makes it more comfortable,” he said.
“It’s new experience, a different one, going from just playing at our school and now having multiple schools playing in this huge band, downtown,” Nishant explained.
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The musicians from Tamanawis bring the sounds of clarinet, trombone, French horn, euphonium, string bass, tuba, trumpet, flute and oboe to the StarBand.
They won’t be performing at the actual JUNO Awards show, set for Sunday (March 25) at Rogers Arena, but it’s all still a thrill.
“I want to go to the next level with my playing, and the (JUNO) experience will be part of that,” said Grade 12 student Hudson Throness, an award-winning trumpeter who will study music at KPU next year.
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